Data Breaches Hit California Small Businesses, Too
Learn why these companies fell prey to breaches and how you can avoid their mistakes.
National Fraud Awareness Week is the perfect opportunity for professionals and business owners to reflect on the far-reaching impact of fraud. It’s coming up later this year, beginning November 11 and lasting until the 17th. During this week-long conversation, one of the most important areas of discussion will likely be how fraudsters use data breaches to gain access to key information they’ll later use to siphon money from legitimate sources — and ruin millions of lives in the process. Small business owners might not see themselves as potential victims and instead assume hackers only ever really go after the huge brands mentioned in the news. According to the 2018 Verizon Data Breach Report, businesses with less than 100 employees account for 58 percent of data breaches. In 2016, California small businesses were one of the top sectors with the largest share of breaches at 15 percent. Why does the percentage of small businesses targeted remain high? Sadly, ease of access is the most likely culprit. Large corporations collectively have billions of dollars they can pour into improving security. Small businesses … do not. Though California small business owners may lack the financial resources of much larger companies, the good news is that there are low cost (or no cost) ways to keep their businesses safe. It might be as simple as reading about another company’s breach headaches and making sure their data woes don’t become your own.
National Fraud Awareness Week is the perfect opportunity for professionals and business owners to reflect on the far-reaching impact of fraud. It’s coming up later this year, beginning November 11 and lasting until the 17th. During this week-long conversation, one of the most important areas of discussion will likely be how fraudsters use data breaches to gain access to key information they’ll later use to siphon money from legitimate sources — and ruin millions of lives in the process. Small business owners might not see themselves as potential victims and instead assume hackers only ever really go after the huge brands mentioned in the news. According to the 2018 Verizon Data Breach Report, businesses with less than 100 employees account for 58 percent of data breaches. In 2016, California small businesses were one of the top sectors with the largest share of breaches at 15 percent. Why does the percentage of small businesses targeted remain high? Sadly, ease of access is the most likely culprit. Large corporations collectively have billions of dollars they can pour into improving security. Small businesses … do not. Though California small business owners may lack the financial resources of much larger companies, the good news is that there are low cost (or no cost) ways to keep their businesses safe. It might be as simple as reading about another company’s breach headaches and making sure their data woes don’t become your own.